BUDGET 2012 CHANGES TO CONTRIBUTORY PENSION

December 14, 2011

MEDIA STATEMENT

The Irish Senior Citizens Parliament welcomes the fact that in Budget 2012 Pensions in payment were maintained at their current rate. However the Parliament is concerned that many members who are due to receive their pension from September 2012 will be affected by these proposed changes to the contributory rates listed below.

We urge the Minister to consider a more gradual approach to these changes. We also urge all those people who have been in touch with us to make their views and individual concerns/ situations known to the Minister and their elected representatives.

BUDGET 2012 PROPOSED CHANGES State Contributory Pension

Average PRSI Contributions per Year

Previous Payment

Proposed Payment

Difference

48 or more 40-47 **

30-39**

20-29**

15-19

10-14

230.30225.80

225.80

225.80

172.70

115.20

230.30225.80

207

196

150

92

Nil Nil

18.80

29.80

22.70

23.20

**Previouslythis referred to 20-47 contributions

Qualified Adult: at this time we do not have figures

These changes require legislation and are not yet in affect.

ENDS

For further information please contact

Mairead Hayes 086 349 8848

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9 comments

I worked for 7 years from 1963 to 1970 with an average of 51 contributions per year. Then was out of the work force for 20 years rearing my family. Returned to work 1990 and have worked full time since. I am due to retire in Jan. 2013. I have a total
working life outside the home of 30 years with total contributions of 1483. This is an average per working year of 49.43. However, when my 20 years of child rearing are included, hey presto my average drops to 29.66 per year. So instead of the 230.00 per week I thought I was entitled to I now find I am expected to live on 150.00 per week (a 35% reduction). What a country!

If I had only taken up employment 23 years ago at the age of 42 and had the same contributions for those 23 years I would qualify for a full pension. What the hell is going on in this country.?

I am very worried about these forthcoming changes & would like to add my voice to lobby against them,as someone who entered the workforce in the Civil Service & had to leave in 1973 when the marriage bar was effective & was still very difficult to get a job afterwards & nearly had to guarentee at Interview you were not going to start a family,eventually I took nearly 20 yrs out to raise a family & today the state don’t want to recongise those yrs it looks like want to penalise & discriminate against those women, very very harsh indeed w

The proposed reductions in the State Contributory Pension based on average contributions needs to highlighted in the media more. It is discrimination to do this simply because of an accident of birth. It means for example if one qualifies in August 2012 the pension granted will be substantially more than if one qualifies in September 2012 and after. Also Labour promised to maintain Social Welfare rates. To think that Joan Burton is masterminding this proposal as a Labour minister in Social Welfare, a position once held by the late Frank Cluskey former Labour leader and a man who did so much in developing Social Welfare and to combat poverty.

Why has there been no discussions on this subject in the media.Government said no cuts to social welfare basic payments,now they are hitting possibly those who were relying on getting a reasonable payment even though they had not enough contributions for a full pension. Time for a higher media profile on this one.

Please add my voice to lobby against this. As someone who entered the workforce at 16 and took 20 years out to raise a family, I will suffer a reduction of almost €30 per week despite having over 1000 contributions…….This more than wipes out the small pension I would get from my current post in UCD!! Not fair at all. Marie Glynn

What is the ISCP?

The Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament is a representative organisation of Older People in Ireland.
The Parliament is a non-partisan political organisation working to promote the views of older people in policy development and decision-making.
The Parliament is run by older volunteers who are elected annually at the Annual Parliament Meeting by delegates from affiliated organisations. The ISCP currently has 400 affiliated organisations whose memberships combine to a total of 100,000 individuals.
This membership means the ISCP has a genuine mandate to be the Voice of Older People in Ireland.

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ISCP Objectives:

To be a strong voice representing older people and their needs at international, national and local level.
To promote inter-generational solidarity.
To work through the existing affiliated organisations to ensure better co-ordination of policies and activities whilst ensuring that the affiliated groups retain their own autonomy.
To work for improvement in the quality of life of Older People.
To develop solidarity with organisations working to improve the quality of life of Older People.
To represent Older People’s issues to Government.